nogs

I don't see what the debate is. He's not good enough. Too slow. Doesn't read the game well. Too easily out fought. Has a mistake in him. No leadership skills. Not a good enough footballer to pass out from the back. 
I'm 100% confident Ancellotti will bring in better and move him on. 

I didn't think Silva did too bad at all in his first season - we had an awful run of form then turned it round and finished strongly. There were reasons to be optimistic in May. I then thought we had a poor transfer window, the punt on Kean might end up being justified long term but this season it left us starting out with a glaring lack of proven goalscoring options, and I thought the failed Zouma pursuit which left us with three senior CBs was verging on criminal. Then we/Silva got very unlucky with the Gbamin/Gomes injuries. We still don't know if we've replaced Gana and have had our best midfielder taken away for the season. 
That said, we were all entitled to see progress under Silva this season and instead we saw the opposite. It was like groundhog day - back to the worst football we played last season, back to the horror show of Koeman's last couple of months. The team looked slow, lightweight, devoid of ideas, easily rolled over. It wasn't good enough and a club as big as ours can't afford to slip into the relegation zone at Christmas and hope things will turn around. It was the right decision to sack Silva, who it turns out had been appointed above his capabilities and you get the feeling the players knew that. Now we have a manager who no one can say that about, and we can move forward accordingly with optimism for a new decade ahead. 

I don't see what the debate is. He's not good enough. Too slow. Doesn't read the game well. Too easily out fought. Has a mistake in him. No leadership skills. Not a good enough footballer to pass out from the back. 
I'm 100% confident Ancellotti will bring in better and move him on. 

I didn't think Silva did too bad at all in his first season - we had an awful run of form then turned it round and finished strongly. There were reasons to be optimistic in May. I then thought we had a poor transfer window, the punt on Kean might end up being justified long term but this season it left us starting out with a glaring lack of proven goalscoring options, and I thought the failed Zouma pursuit which left us with three senior CBs was verging on criminal. Then we/Silva got very unlucky with the Gbamin/Gomes injuries. We still don't know if we've replaced Gana and have had our best midfielder taken away for the season. 
That said, we were all entitled to see progress under Silva this season and instead we saw the opposite. It was like groundhog day - back to the worst football we played last season, back to the horror show of Koeman's last couple of months. The team looked slow, lightweight, devoid of ideas, easily rolled over. It wasn't good enough and a club as big as ours can't afford to slip into the relegation zone at Christmas and hope things will turn around. It was the right decision to sack Silva, who it turns out had been appointed above his capabilities and you get the feeling the players knew that. Now we have a manager who no one can say that about, and we can move forward accordingly with optimism for a new decade ahead. 

Every team has to make changes at this time of year or you risk injuring key players. From what I heard we were all over them for 30 mins with 70% possession but then they came back. We held out for a while, they equalised, then Carlo made changes and we won. So no, he got it bang on 😁

Every team has to make changes at this time of year or you risk injuring key players. From what I heard we were all over them for 30 mins with 70% possession but then they came back. We held out for a while, they equalised, then Carlo made changes and we won. So no, he got it bang on 😁

Having to pinch myself, do we really have a manager who can make actual tactical changes during a game?! We were fantastic for the first 20 minutes and then desperately looked second best up until the hour mark when we so obviously needed fresh legs in the middle to held us keep the ball. Our poor ball retention was the only thing that allowed Newcastle to have a sniff so full credit to Ancelotti and Delph for changing the game. 
DCL just gets better and better. Six months ago I and most others were convinced he wouldn't make it here and now he's every bit the number 9 we've been crying out for. An out and out poacher in the right place at the right time twice and it quite literally won us the game - so happy with his form right now. 
Pickford was brilliant, saved our arses a few times when we were second best. Sidibe, Baines both great (so happy Digne got 90 minutes rest) and Holgate stole the show at times now needing surgical treatment to remove Andy Carroll from his back pocket. Michael Keane scares the fuck out of me but did alright today, Yerry Mina also brilliant with a cameo to see us through. 
Charlie ran his arse into the ground (and my MOTM after DCL), having players willing to put their neck on the line for the shirt is what I've been desperate for in what feels like forever, he never stopped running and constantly made the right choices with tired legs and minutes to spare. On another day he would have rolled over and sulked but to his credit gave as good as he got. 
I'm so, so happy. Tactics were spot on, even if we did ride our luck in the middle part of the game. The fact that we are 10th and seriously in the conversation about Europe again is baffling and I seriously need to lie down. 
UTFT. 

Couldn't watch it but fantastic result. Can we all accept we have a number 9 worth sticking with now? 

I understand the need to rotate at this time of year but Keane frightens me every time he's named in the starting XI, especially if we try to play out from the back. Also thought he'd stick with Bernard who only played an hour and was pretty effective in that role

Couldn't watch it but fantastic result. Can we all accept we have a number 9 worth sticking with now? 

I understand the need to rotate at this time of year but Keane frightens me every time he's named in the starting XI, especially if we try to play out from the back. Also thought he'd stick with Bernard who only played an hour and was pretty effective in that role

Has to be a CB top of the list. No way Keane can be trusted playing out from the back the way we were doing v Burnley. It was always madness going into the season with just 3 anyway, we've been lucky Holgate has progressed the way he has. 
My missus heard something on radio about Ancellotti saying a forward wouldn't be a priority and he was happy with what he had for now. I imagine a CM would just be a stop gap loan deal with Gomes and Gbamin to come back. January isn't the time for major surgery I wouldn't be surprised if we only make one or two signings 

What you'd get with Richarlison playing the LM role is a different kind of threat - cutting inside on his right to shoot, or arriving at the back post to head in crosses which I reckon he does better from a wide position than when he plays centrally. It's also an option if Ancellotti can either get Kean going or buys an out and out goalscorer. 
What I'm thinking writing this is that suddey we do seem to have options, a month ago I had no idea what system suited our squad! 

What you'd get with Richarlison playing the LM role is a different kind of threat - cutting inside on his right to shoot, or arriving at the back post to head in crosses which I reckon he does better from a wide position than when he plays centrally. It's also an option if Ancellotti can either get Kean going or buys an out and out goalscorer. 
What I'm thinking writing this is that suddey we do seem to have options, a month ago I had no idea what system suited our squad! 

The change in Bernard was massive. It was almost as if he was given a free role to drift inside as he liked and as a result he had a real impact on the game. The movement off the ball was excellent too. 

The change in Bernard was massive. It was almost as if he was given a free role to drift inside as he liked and as a result he had a real impact on the game. The movement off the ball was excellent too. 

The change in Bernard was massive. It was almost as if he was given a free role to drift inside as he liked and as a result he had a real impact on the game. The movement off the ball was excellent too. 

Thought Bernard had his best half for us but faded. Sidibe just gets the nod over him for me, tireless workrate and alwatmys provided an outlet. I thought the way the wide mids played made up for the fact Delph and Sigurdsson weren't very good in the centre. 

He certainly stuck with what he knows yesterday then! Be interesting to see if he fancies Richarlison in the LM role like the article suggests and gives Kean a go up top with DCL - like I said, thought it suited Bernard really well. We must be prioritising a CB in January, I wonder if he'll see Holgate as an option at RB if he gets one? Think he'd be better suited to switching back into CB than Coleman. 

The change in Bernard was massive. It was almost as if he was given a free role to drift inside as he liked and as a result he had a real impact on the game. The movement off the ball was excellent too. 

The change in Bernard was massive. It was almost as if he was given a free role to drift inside as he liked and as a result he had a real impact on the game. The movement off the ball was excellent too. 

Wow your on top form today Pete. The cross was top drawer. But what do I know and the pundits after the game that were raving over the ball. You must have missed Holgates chance aswell 

The guys who run darts (Barry Heard and his son Eddie) have made it a really fun event to go to. It’s like going to a party but there is a darts competition going on in front of you. 
 
I twice dressed up as a Storm Trooper and escorted John Part to the stage and once in a Hawaiian shirt and flowers escorting Wayne Mardle, both times (the Hawaiian and storm trooper were the same night) at the echo. My mates girlfriend was a producer for Sky Sports and asked him to bring a load of us. When we got to the arena they had a big dressing room just for us, it had a few crates of Carling and loads of Walkers crisps. They asked if any of us wanted to have a spray tan before we went out, but none of us took up the offer. After we had finished we had seats right at the side of the stage with the Sky staff, it was loads of fun. Don’t have a clue about darts, love free drinks. 

Problem is we have been saying we should be breaking into the top 4 every season since we finished 5th under Martinez. I still reckon that was our big opportunity, fucked up by Martinez's criminal lack of tactical awareness defensively. Since then, under Moshiri's watch we have seen a catalogue of rank bad recruitment turn our squad into a bit of a laughing squad and absolutely nowhere near challenging at the top of the league. I don't think it's realistic to expect that to be turned around in two transfer windows. My concern is that there will be big pressure on Ancellotti to achieve fast results, well throw a load more money around without a proper long term strategy and in 12 months we'll all be scratching our heads wondering what went wrong. 
Ancellotti has signed for four full seasons. I reckon it could realistically take until the final 2 of those before we're genuine contenders again. He needs to be given time and patience. 

Problem is we have been saying we should be breaking into the top 4 every season since we finished 5th under Martinez. I still reckon that was our big opportunity, fucked up by Martinez's criminal lack of tactical awareness defensively. Since then, under Moshiri's watch we have seen a catalogue of rank bad recruitment turn our squad into a bit of a laughing squad and absolutely nowhere near challenging at the top of the league. I don't think it's realistic to expect that to be turned around in two transfer windows. My concern is that there will be big pressure on Ancellotti to achieve fast results, well throw a load more money around without a proper long term strategy and in 12 months we'll all be scratching our heads wondering what went wrong. 
Ancellotti has signed for four full seasons. I reckon it could realistically take until the final 2 of those before we're genuine contenders again. He needs to be given time and patience.